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USD 1 = NOK 6.80 No. 15 - 11 May 1993
CONTENTS:
Heavy burden for Stoltenberg (1)
"Solidarity billion" (2)
Wage talks going well (3)
New oil find in North Sea (4)
Dogging it from Norway to Japan (5)
Monitoring the ozone layer (6)
Grieg diaries to be published (7)
Surplus on Norway's current balance (8)
Increased productivity (9)
Cost cuts pay off (9)
Domestic air traffic deregulated (10)
Whaleboat saboteurs charged (10)
norinform/1 11 May 1993
HEAVY BURDEN FOR STOLTENBERG
I cannot deny that I had misgivings about shouldering responsibility for
so many and so extensive operations," says Norway's former minister of
foreign affairs, Thorvald Stoltenberg, who has taken on the most
important international assignment that has been allocated to a
Norwegian since Tryve Lie was UN secretary general 40 years ago. The
Bosnian Serbs' rejection of the Vance-Owen peace plan has further
complicated the task, which is easily the biggest in the history of the
UN. If plans are implemented, Stoltenberg will be responsible for a
peace-keeping UN force of at least 75,000.
It was on Wednesday 5 May that UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-
Ghali announced that the Norwegian had agreed to be his special
representative in the former Yugoslavia, with responsibility for
coordinating political, military and humanitarian assignments.
Stoltenberg will work from Zagreb, with the UN military commando, from
Geneva, where he takes over after UN peace envoy Cyrus Vance, and from
New York, where the peace mediators have a staff which prepares cases
for the Secretary General and the UN Security Council.
Stoltenberg's mandate has not been precisely determined. In his role as
peace envoy and coordinator he will report to the Secretary General and
the Security Council, though retaining full authority to make decisions,
also those relating to military matters. "I believe I will be one of the
decision-makers, but I will probably delegate a number of decisions to
the military commanders," says Thorvald Stoltenberg.
(norinform)
norinform/2 11 May 1993
"SOLIDARITY BILLION"
The Norwegian Labour Party proposes new taxes to fund the battle against
unemployment. After a meeting of the party's national committee, Labour
leader Thorbjoern Jagland said that increased taxes would raise about USD
150 million (1 billion Norwegian kroner) which he dubbed the "solidarity
billion". About a quarter of the sum could be levied with a new
employer's tax on all individual salaries and fringe benefits exceeding
USD 90,000. The remainder would be procured by increasing the capital
tax from 0.3 to 0.7 per cent for personal wealth or property exceeding
USD 35,000.
The "solidarity billion" - together with other revisions in the fiscal
budget - will eventually help create 70,000 jobs in the public sector,
said Jagland. Norway currently has about 180,000 out of work, or more
than 8 per cent of the work force. The struggle against unemployment is
a key issue for Labour, particularly in an election year, such as this.
According to opinion polls, Labour may be facing its poorest results in
sixty years when voters elect a new Storting on 13 September. The
Socialist Left Party is expected to gain the most from dissatisfaction
with Labour.
It is unclear whether the Labour Party will manage to push its tax plan
through the national assembly. The Conservatives and the Party of
Progress oppose it, while the Socialist Left welcomes the initiative.
The centrist parties have not yet taken a formal stance, but the Centre
Party appears to be open to the proposal.
(norinform)
norinform/3 11 May 1993
WAGE TALKS GOING WELL
The first stage of the spring wage settlements in Norway ended without
the threatened strike among 234,000 employees in the private sector (See
Norinform no.12 - 20 April 1993). The subsequent talks for the 620,000
in central and local government have also been successfully concluded.
This is the first time for several years that negotiations for municipal
employees have been completed without conflict, or recourse to a
mediator.
Both state and local government employees will be given a general raise
of USD 300 a year at all wage levels. They will also be allowed to
retire at 64 if they so wish (normal retirement age is 67). Employees in
a large part of the private sector gained this same right in their
talks. Some groups of municipal employees, such as nurses, pre-school
teachers and others with a three-year college education, were also
granted one extra wage increment on top of the general wage raise. This
constitues around USD 1,000 per year.
Many Norwegians were given a May Day gift which far exceeded any wage
raise. In her 1 May speech, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland
announced that the Government will propose interest rate cuts of 1 to 2
percentage points on loans from state banks such as the Norwegian State
Housing Bank, the State Educational Loan Fund and the State Bank for
Agriculture. For many households with housing loans this entails an
improvement in their economy equal to a wage raise of almost 4 per cent.
(norinform)
norinform/4 11 May 1993
NEW OIL FIND IN NORTH SEA
Statoil, Norway's state oil company, has struck a new oil reserve in the
North Sea, close to the Sleipner and Loke fields. "This is a surprising
find. We had expected gas, not oil in this area, which is part of a
geological structure we haven't previously explored," says assistant
head of information in Statoil, Odd Jan Lange.
Preliminary drillings have not yet provided an indication of the size of
the find and seismic data for the area is not comprehensive enough
either. But production testing has revealed that the reservoir has good
productivity informs the Petroleum Directorate. Further seismic tests
will be made in order to gauge the size of the field.
The oil was found in sandstone from the early Jurassic period (195-135
million years ago). Test results are encouraging with a view to further
prospecting in geological structures from this period, the Directorate
states. (norinform)
norinform/5 11 May 1993
DOGGING IT FROM NORWAY TO JAPAN
The world's longest dogsled expedition will start at the closing
ceremony of the Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games on 28 February next
year. Sixty dogs will pull four Norwegians and four companions from
other countries 16,000 kilimetres from Lillehammer to Nagano in Japan.
The expedition - supported by the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing
Committee (LOOC), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs - calculates on spending 18
months on the trip, which will cost about USD 1.8 million.
The dogsledders will act as couriers carrying an environmental message
to the organizers of the 1996 Winter Games in Nagano, requesting that
they and future Olympic Committees treat the environment as a third
element of the Olympics,in addition to sports and culture. LOOC hopes
that Nagano will show even more concern for environmental planning than
Lillehammer is doing.
The Norwegian behind the idea, outdoorsman and TV producer Geir Randby
(31), says that the team will first cross Sweden and Finland before
going on to Russia. A summer camp will be established on the eastern
shore of the White Sea. The trekkers plan to cross Siberia in the autumn
of 1994 and will use a sailboat to cross the Bering Strait to Alaska
before the last leg of the journey,in August, when the sledders arrive
in Nagano on roller skis. The participants are to carry out research on
canine physiology as well as producing three or four documentary films.
(norinform)
norinform/6 11 May 1993
MONITORING THE OZONE LAYER
The Norwegian Space Centre at Andoeya in North Norway is planning to use
sophisticated laser techniques to monitor changes in the ozone layer
above the Northern Nordic Cape.
The Centre, which already has a rocket range on Andoeya, is to lead
construction work on the new observatory, which will be named Alomar.
The Space Centre's unique project involves beaming five lasers towards
the atmosphere in order to record meteorological conditions at altitudes
of ten to one hundred kilometres, while one laser continuously measures
the ozone layer. Scientists from Norway, Great Britain, Germany, and the
USA are enthusiastic participants in the planning stage. The man behind
the idea was professor Ulf von Zahn of the University of Bonn.
The cost of the Alomar observatory is USD 5.9 million. German research
institutues will supply half of this amount. The Norwegian Industrial
and Regional Development Fund will allocate a total of USD 2.2 million
in loans and grants and the Ministry of Local Government and Labour is
expected to supply the rest. If all goes well, construction work will
start in the early summer this year with completion scheduled for early
next year. (norinform)
norinform/7 11 May 1993
GRIEG DIARIES TO BE PUBLISHED
The world-famous Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg, was critical of his
equally famous compatriot, dramatist Henrik Ibsen. The two men spent a
lot of time together during the period when they lived in Rome. "Henrik
Ibsen was a lump of ice which wouldn't melt," wrote Grieg in his diary.
This is a sample of what can be found in Grieg's diaries, which are now
to be published for the first time, following an initiative from the
Bergen public library - to which Griegs' works, both musical and
literary, were bequeathed. The introduction and comments to the diaries
have been written by Finn Benestad, professor of musicology at the
University of Oslo, who described the work of going through the diaries
as "joyful and exciting."
What emerges from Grieg's writings is a very personal portrait of the
composer, who kept diaries during two periods. The first diary was
written during a journey to North Zealand (the island on which
Copenhagen is situated) in 1865. At the time, Grieg was newly engaged to
his cousin, Nina Hagerup, and his diaries strongly reflect his love for
her. The second period was from 1905 to 1907, when he was deeply
occupied by the dissolution of Norway's union with Sweden. In an effort
to prevent an outbreak of war between the two countries, Grieg
despatched telegrams to the English king and the French emperor.
Despite the fact that he was himself a republican, he had an excellent
relationship with the reigning Norwegian monarch King Haakon and his
wife, Queen Maud. However, he retained a degree of artistic self-
assurance in the presence of royalty. When playing for King Edward at
Buckingham Palace, he stopped the music three times when the king
started to speak to Fridtjof Nansen. (norinform)
norinform/8 11 May 1993
SURPLUS ON NORWAY'S CURRENT BALANCE
Preliminary figures show that during the first two months of this year
Norway posted a current balance surplus of USD 820 million compared with
a deficit of nearly USD 7 million for the same period last year.
The current balance is divided up into two categories, goods and
services and interests and transfers. For the first group there was an
export surplus of USD 1.62 billion for January-February. This is USD
168 million higher than in the corresponding period of 1992, thanks
largely to the trade balance (visible exports and imports). Interests
and transfers, on the other hand, showed a deficit of USD 800 million
for January-February, though this is an improvement of USD 658 million
on January-February 1992. Most of the increase is attributed to lower
payment of dividends to abroad.
Norway's net debts abroad rose by USD 96 million for the two-month
period. The difference between the current accounts surplus and the
change in the net debts is due to reassessment of assets and net debts,
mainly as a result of fluctuations in exchange rates. At end February
Norway's total net debt abroad was USD 8.99 billion.
The current balance surplus for January-February and a net inflow of
long-term capital of USD 551 million was offset by a net outflow of
short-term capital of USD 1.37 billion.
(norinform)
norinform/9 11 May 1993
INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY
Combined production in the oil and gas sector, mining, industry and
hydroelectric power rose by 3.6 per cent from March 1992 to March this
year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The increase for
the oil and gas sector alone was 7.5 per cent, mainly because of
mounting production at the Oseberg and Gullfaks fields.
Industrial production rose by only 0.4 per cent. Industry which competes
abroad posted the biggest gains. Mining operations increased their
output by 0.8 per cent. In the past 12 months, the chemical raw
materials, and the iron, steel and ferrous alloys industries have
improved the most. Producers for the domestic market have suffered a 0.1
per cent setback in the past year. (norinform)
COST CUTS PAY OFF
The crisis-ridden commercial banks, Den norske Bank (DnB), Christiania
Bank and Fokus Bank are still losing money but their first quarter
results are considerably better than in the equivalent period last year.
The gains are attributed to cost slashing and proceeds from the
securities in their portfolios. In the first quarter last year, the
three ran a combined USD 123 million deficit after losses. Even though
DnB ran USD 20 million into the red in the first three months, the
banks' combined result this year was USD 16.5 million - about 140
million dollars better than last year. (norinform)
norinform/10 11 May 1993
DOMESTIC AIR TRAFFIC DEREGULATED
The Government has proposed a deregulation of Norwegian commercial air
traffic as of April next year. This means that carriers on domestic
routes will compete freely with one another. The Scandinavian Airlines
System (SAS) has long wished for a relaxation of regulations, while
Braathens SAFE would prefer to wait until 1997, when the third phase of
the EC's air package is implemented. Overseas airlines will not be able
to compete on domestic routes until this date. The deregulation is
expected to lead to lower prices on the most heavily trafficked routes.
At present a so-called cross-subsidization system is practised, i.e.
unprofitable routes are subsidized by inflated prices on busy routes.
Under the new system the Ministry of Transport and Communications will
invite tenders for important, but unprofitable local routes.
(norinform)
WHALEBOAT SABOTEURS CHARGED
The Lofoten and Vesteraalen police department in North Norway has filed
charges of serious vandalism against Canadian environmental activist
Paul Watson and his American associate Dwight Worker, who sabotaged the
Norwegian whaling vessel "Nybraenna" last December. The public prosecutor
in Nordland county decides whether the two men are to be indicted. The
sabotage took place while the vessel was in port at Steine in the
Lofoten islands. The vessel's sea inlet valve was unscrewed and the
"Nybreaenna"was about to sink when the sabotage was discovered. Watson,
head of the Sea-Shepherd environmentalist group, has accepted full
responsibility for the action and is willing to stand trial in a
Norwegian court if necessary.
(norinform)
.